Beijing yesterday dismissed Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's threat to seek independence and risk war with the mainland, saying it was irresponsible and hurtful.

"What he (Chen) said will do great harm rather than good to cross-Straits relations," said an official with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

The official, who declined to be identified, said Chen should come up with more sincere and concrete moves instead of irresponsible remarks to benefit the development of cross-Straits ties.

He made the comments after Chen apparently warned on Sunday that if the mainland doesn't respond to his goodwill, Taiwan might abandon hopes for closer relations and move towards independence.

"We'll use goodwill and sincerity to knock on the door and use confidence and action to open the door," Chen said in a televised prime-time speech to mark his assumption of the post of chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"We hope the other side can respond positively so we can jointly open a new era of relations across the Taiwan Straits."

But the leader of the pro-independence DPP warned: "If our goodwill cannot be reciprocated, we should consider whether we need to take our own path, the Taiwan path."

The warning, which Chen made in native Taiwanese dialect while avoiding the politically charged word "independence," was a departure from the speech he had originally prepared, according to local media reports.

Since taking office two years ago, Chen has made numerous offers to talk with the mainland. Beijing, however, has refused to make contact with Chen and his DPP because of their consistent refusal to accept the fact that both Taiwan and the mainland are parts of China.

Liu Guoshen, director of the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, said the announcement earlier that day by Nauru that it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan may have contributed to the tone of Chen's remarks.

The Pacific island switched official ties to the Chinese mainland and this was considered another major diplomatic failure for Taipei, which is now recognized by only 27 nations, most of them poor African and Latin American countries.

"Chen's emotional moves, for whatever reason, demonstrated his changeability and lack of experience in dealing with cross-Straits relations," Liu said.

"His remarks can do nothing but strengthen distrust between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits."

The researcher said it was neither practical nor wise for Chen to ignore Beijing's political influence on the world stage when formulating its cross-Straits policy.

"By threatening to walk down the independence road, Chen is obviously resorting to unreasonable confrontation to change the existing global political structure, which may prove to be a disaster for the Taiwanese people," Liu said.

He warned the cross-Straits relationship may be plunged into crisis unless Chen abandons his strong ideology and hostility on cross-Straits issues.

(China Daily July 23, 2002)